Method and apparatus for updating navigation map

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for updating navigation map are disclosed. The method includes: fusing captured three-dimensional (3D) data and two-dimensional data (2D) image data of a street view to generate 3D fused data representing the street view; and updating the navigation map in real time according to the 3D fused data. Thus, the disclosure provides a way to update the navigation map in real time.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to image processing, and moreparticularly, to a method and an apparatus for updating navigation maps.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Vehicle mounted computers can be used as infotainment systems invehicles. The vehicle mounted computers can deliver both entertainmentand information content. Many vehicle mounted computers are nowinstalled with navigation maps, which include software for routeplanning and navigation functions. Because urban roads and thesurrounding buildings can constantly change, navigation maps would needto be updated frequently to acquire the latest road information. Theupdated versions for the navigation maps may be provided by map vendors.Typically, the vehicle owner may go to a car shop, dealership, or mapvendor to download and install the updated versions.

However, the updated versions provided by either of a car shop,dealership, or map vendor may not include the latest road conditions andhave difficulty in covering real-time road conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A primary technical issue to be addressed by the disclosure is toprovide a method and an apparatus for updating navigation maps in realtime.

One technical solution adopted by the disclosure is to provide a methodfor updating a navigation map includes fusing captured three-dimensional(3D) data and two-dimensional data (2D) image data of a street view togenerate 3D fused data representing the street view; and updating thenavigation map in real time according to the 3D fused data.

To address the above technical issue, another technical solution adoptedby the disclosure is to provide an apparatus for updating the navigationmap. The apparatus includes a data fusion module, configured to fusecaptured three-dimensional (3D) data and two-dimensional (2D) image dataof a street view to generate 3D fused data representing the street view;and an update module, configured to update the navigation map in realtime according to the 3D fused data generated by the data fusion module.

According to the disclosure, the 3D data and 2D image data of the streetview can be captured and fused to generate the 3D fused datarepresenting the street view in real time, further the navigation mapalso can be updated in real time according to the 3D fused data. Thus,the disclosure provides a way to update the navigation map in real time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for updating anavigation map according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart illustrating some details of the step S101according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the division of a navigationmap onto multiple position tiles according to an embodiment thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart illustrating some details of the step S103according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the determination of aposition of a collected point according to the methods for updating thenavigation map of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart illustrating some details of the step S103according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for updating a navigationmap according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of some details of the collection device101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of some details of the update module 103according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings and embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 1, a method for updating a navigation map according tothe disclosure includes the following steps.

In step S101, three-dimensional (3D) data and two-dimensional (2D) imagedata of a street view (such as a view of a road or a street), arecaptured in real time.

Different types of collection devices may be used to capture the 3D dataand the 2D image data. In one example, a 3D scanning device can be usedto scan the spatial models of roads, surrounding buildings, and otherobjects in 360 degrees to generate the 3D data. The 3D data may includeparameters, such as the distance and the angle of a road, a street, or abuilding with respect to the 3D scanning device. For example, FIG. 5,which will be discussed below shows the distance and angle of acollected point (i.e., a street view) with respect to a scanning device.The 3D scanning device can be, for example, a Focus 3D*330. However, anysuitable type of 3D scanning device can be used. Simultaneously, one ormore image capture devices can be used to capture the 2D image data ofthe street view. The image capture devices can be, for example,photographic equipment, which can take pictures of the road, the street,and the buildings in 360 degrees.

The 3D scan function and the image capture function can also beintegrated in a single collection device, which can take replace the 3Dscanning device and one or more image capture devices to capture the 3Ddata and the 2D image data of the street view.

The 3D scanning device and the image capture device can be mounted onvehicles, such as cars, to collect the 3D data and the 2D image data ofthe street view in real time. In addition, the 3D scanning device andthe image capture device can also be arranged on a road as publicfacilities, to capture the 3D data and 2D image data of the street viewin real time. The vehicle mounted computers can build up communicationconnections with these public facilities to receive the 3D data and 2Dimage data of the street view that are captured by these publicfacilities.

According to one aspect, a single collection device can be used tocapture the 3D data and 2D image data of the street view in real time ata same distance and angle. The distance may refer to the distance of thestreet view with respect to the single collection device. The angle mayrefer to the angle of the view with respect to the single collectiondevice.

Thus, when the 3D data of the street view has been captured in real timeat a certain distance and angle, the 2D image data of the street viewcan also be captured in real time at the same distance and angle. Forexample, the 3D data of a building A has been captured by a singlecollection ,wherein the distance of the building A with respect to thesingle collection device is a meters and the angle of the building Awith respect to the single collection device is b degree, then the 2Dimage data of the same building A will also be captured when thedistance of the building A with respect to the single collection deviceis a meters and the angle of the building A with respect to the singlecollection device is b degree. Thus, after the 3D data and the 2D imagedata of the building A are fused to a 3D fused data, the 3D data and the2D image data comprised in the 3D fused data will not have any visiondeviation.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the 3D data of the collected point 1 is scannedand captured when the distance of the collected point 1 with respect tothe collection device is L meters and the angle of the collected point 1with respect to the collection device is A degree. Thus, the 2D imagedata of this collected point 1 will also be captured by this collectiondevice when the distance of the collected point 1 with respect to thecollection device is L meters and the angle of the collected point 1with respect to the collection device is A degree.

The 3D data and the 2D image data can also be respectively captured bythe collection device at different distances and angles, in which casethe collected 3D data and 2D image data may need to be converted andcomputed to have the same distance and angle with respect to thecollection device before they can be accurately fused.

According to another aspect, if different collection devices are used tocapture the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street viewrespectively, then the different collection devices can be adjusted tocapture the same region of the same street view at the same distance andangle, such that the generated 3D fused data will not have any visiondeviation. In addition, the 3D data and the corresponding 2D image datacan be separately collected by the different collection devices atdifferent distances and angles, in which case the collected 3D data and2D image data may need to be converted to have the same distance andangle with respect to one of the different collection devices, beforethe data can be accurately fused. In one example, the differentcollection devices are a 3D scanning device and an image capture device.

Referring now to FIG. 2, when different collection devices are used torespectively capture the 3D data and the 2D image data, the step S101may include the following sub-steps.

In sub-step S1101, different collection devices may be used torespectively capture the 3D data and 2D image data of the street view.

In sub-step S1102, the respectively captured 3D data and 2D image dataof the will be converted to have the same distance and angle. Thedistance may refer to the distance of the street view with respect toone of the different collection devices, while the angle may refer tothe angle of the street view with respect to the same one of thedifferent collection devices.

Referring now again to FIG. 1, in step S102, the captured 3D data and 2Dimage data are fused to generate the 3D fused data representing thestreet view.

Typically, the 3D data may refer to the spatial data reflecting thestructure of an object. Figuratively speaking, the 3D data can beregarded as the skeleton of the object such as the framework of abuilding, whereas the 2D image data can depict the two-dimensional orplanar appearance of the object. Figuratively speaking, the 2D imagedata can be viewed as the outer skin of an object such as the paint,appearance, and color of the exterior of the building. The 3D fused datais the integration of the spatial data reflecting the physical structurewith the planar data reflecting the appearance. For example, the 3Dfused data can be regarded as the addition of a corresponding outer skinonto the framework of an object. One such example is adding paint colorsto a framework of a freshly capped building to form a completethree-dimensional appearance.

Data fusion techniques can be used to combine the 3D data and the 2Dimage data of the street view. Typically, in a unified geographiccoordinate system, certain algorithms can be used to combine the 3D dataand the 2D image data, which are detected by the same collection device,to generate the 3D fused data, which contains not only the contourprofile, but also the planar appearance.

Based on the required information abstraction degree, any data fusionmeans, or a combination of multiple data fusion means, can be used tofuse the 3D data and 2D image data of the street view. The data fusionmeans can include at least one of pixel-based fusion, feature-basedfusion, and decision-based fusion. The fusion techniques for combiningthe 3D data and the 2D image data are well-known in the art, and thuswill not be described in detail herein.

In step S103, updating the navigation map in real time according to the3D fused data.

Optionally, before the step S103, the navigation map may be divided intomultiple tiles, each covering a region in the navigation map with apredetermined length and width.

As shown in FIG. 3, the navigation map may be divided into 16 positiontiles (G1*1, G1*2, . . . , and G4*4). Each position tile may cover aregion with a fixed length and width such as, 100 meters multiply 100meters. The whole navigation map can be tiled by these position tiles.

Referring now to FIG. 4, in some examples of the disclosure, the stepS103 may include sub-steps S1031, S1032, S1033 and S1034.

In the sub-step S1031, the position tile corresponding to the streetview, and the specific position of the street view in the position tilemay be determined based on global positioning system (GPS) positioninformation of a collection device, and the distance and angle of thestreet view with respect to the collection device.

The determined specific position of the street view in the positiontile, can be a relative position with respect to the collection device,and can also be an absolute position expressed with latitude andlongitude.

Now, referring to FIG. 5 again, in a single position tile, a compass inthe collection device may first determine the four standardorientations, i.e., the east, the west, the south, and the north. Toacquire the data of the collected point 1 (i.e., street view) , acollecting head of the collection device may point to the collectedpoint 1 and an angle A of the collecting head with respect to thereference orientation (referring to “north” in this example) will bestored. A distance determining component of the collection device maythen determine the distance L of the collected point 1 with respect tothe collection device. The current GPS position information of thecollection device and the angle A, as well as the distance L, could beutilized to locate the specific position of the collected point 1. Thespecific position can be an absolution position expressed with latitudeand longitude. The collection device may be used to collect the 3D dataor the 2D image data.

In the sub-step S1032, determining whether the specific position of theposition tile has already contained the collected point 1. If yes, themethod may proceed to the sub-step S1034. If not, the method may proceedto step S1033.

In the sub-step S1033, updating the map data of the specific position ofthe position tile in real time according to the 3D fused datarepresenting the collected point 1.

In the sub-step S1034, maintaining the current navigation map.

The sub-step S1032 can be optional. In addition, if it is determinedthat the format of the 3D fused data is not consistent with the map dataformat of the navigation map, then the format may need to be convertedbefore sub-step S1033.

Referring to FIG. 6, when the determination result at the sub-step S1032is negative, the method may further include the following steps.

In a following sub-step S1035, determining whether the format of the 3Dfused data representing the street view is the same as that of the mapdata of the navigation map.

In a following sub-step S1036, if the formats are different, the formatof the 3D fused data will be converted to that of the map data of thenavigation map, and the converted data of the street view will beupdated in real time onto the determined specific position on thenavigation map, that is, updating the map data of the specific positionof the position tile in real time according to the converted 3D fuseddata. If the formats are the same, the method may proceed to thesub-step S1033.

Other methods can also be used to update the navigation map in realtime. For example, while capturing data, the navigation map can benotified to lock the region of the navigation map that is currentlydisplayed on the screen. The 3D fused data, which is generated in realtime, can be directly updated to the locked region on the screen, afterwhich, new data (i.e., new 3D data and new 2D image data) will becaptured and fused and synchronously updated. In another example, whilecapturing data, the navigation map can be notified to lock the region ofthe navigation map that is currently displayed on the screen. Acorrespondence between the 3D fused data and the locked region can beestablished and it is recorded that map updates are available for thislocked region, so that next time the vehicle passes the same region andparses that map updates are available, the 3D fused data correspondingto this locked region will be directly updated to the navigation map.

According to the disclosure, the 3D data and 2D image data of the streetview can be captured in real time, and are fused together into 3D fuseddata, which can then be used to update the navigation map in real time.Since the 3D fused data, which is synchronously generated by thecombination of currently collected data, the navigation map can beupdated in real time. Thus, the currently captured street view can be intime displayed on the route that the vehicle is traveling on, that is,the updated navigation map can cover the real-time road conditions.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an apparatus for updating the navigation mapaccording to the disclosure includes at least one collection device 101,a data fusion module 102, and an update module 103.

The at least one collection device 101 may capture the 3D data and the2D image data of a street view (such as, a view of a road or a street)in real time.

Different types of collection devices can be used to capture the 3D dataand 2D image data. In one example, a 3D scanning device can be used toscan the spatial models of roads, surrounding buildings, and otherobjects in 360 degrees to generate the 3D data. The 3D data may includeparameters such as the distance and angle of a road, a street, or abuilding with respect to the 3D scanning device. For example, FIG. 5,which shows the distance and angle of a collected point (i.e., a streetview) with respect to a scanning device. The 3D scanning device can be,for example, a Focus_3D*330. However, any suitable type of 3D scanningdevice can be used. Simultaneously, image capture devices can be used tocapture the 2D image data of the street view. The image capture devicescan be, for example, photographic equipment. The image capture devicescan take pictures of the road, the street, and the buildings in 360degrees.

The collection devices 101 may include vehicle mounted collectiondevices and/or those arranged on a road as public facilities, to collectthe 3D data and 2D image data of the street view in real time. Thevehicle mounted computers can build up communication connections withthese public facilities to receive the 3D data and 2D image data of thestreet view that are captured by these public facilities.

The 3D scan function and the image capture function can also beintegrated in a single collection device, which can take replace the 3Dscanning device and one or more image capture devices to capture the 3Ddata and the 2D image data of the street view.

According to one aspect, when a single collection device is used tocollect the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street view in realtime, the collection device 101 may collect the 3D data and the 2D imagedata of the street view at a same distance and angle. The distance mayrefer to the distance of the street view with respect to the singlecollection device, while the angle may refer to the angle of the streetview with respect to this single collection device.

Thus, when the 3D data of the street view has been captured in real timeat a certain distance and angle, the 2D image data of the street viewcan also be captured in real time at the same distance and angle. Forexample, the 3D data of a building A has been captured by a singlecollection, wherein the distance of the building A with respect to thesingle collection device is a meters and the angle of the building Awith respect to the single collection device is b degree, then the 2Dimage data of the same building A will also be captured when thedistance of the building A with respect to the single collection deviceis a meters and the angle of the building A with respect to the singlecollection device is b degree. Thus, after the 3D data and the 2D imagedata of the building are fused to a 3D fused data, the 3D data and the2D image data comprised in the 3D fused data will not have any visiondeviation.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the 3D data of the collected point 1 is scannedand captured when the distance of the collected point 1 with respect tothe collection device is L meters and the angle of the collected point 1with respect to the collection device is A degree. Thus, the 2D imagedata of this collected point 1 will also be captured by this collectiondevice when the distance of the collected point 1 with respect to thecollection device is L meters and the angle of the collected point 1with respect to the collection device is A degree.

The 3D data and the 2D image data can also be respectively captured bythe collection device at different distances and angles, in which casethe collected 3D data and 2D image data may need to be converted andcomputed to have the same distance and angle with respect to thecollection device before they can be accurately fused.

According to another aspect, if different collection devices are used tocapture the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street viewrespectively, then the different collection devices can be adjusted tocapture the same region of the same street view at the same distance andangle, such that the generated 3D fused data will not have any visiondeviation. In addition, The 3D data and the corresponding 2D image datacan also be separately collected by different collection devices atdifferent distances and angles, in which case the collected 3D data and2D image data may need to be converted to have the same distance andangle with respect to one of the different collection devices, beforethe data can be accurately fused. In one example, the differentcollection devices are a 3D scanning device and an image capture device.

Referring now to FIG. 8, if different collection devices are used tocapture the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street view in realtime, at least one collection device 101 may include a collecting unit1011 and a conversion unit 1012.

The collecting unit may capture the 3D data or 2D image data of thestreet view.

The conversion unit 1102 may convert the 3D data and 2D image data ofthe street view, which are respectively collected by the differentcollection devices, to have the same distance and angle. The distancemay refer to the distance of the street view with respect to one of thedifferent collection devices, while the angle may refer to the angle ofthe street view with respect to the same one of the different collectiondevices.

The data fusion module 102 may fuse the 3D data and the 2D image data,which are collected by the collection devices 101, to generate the 3Dfused data representing the street view. Typically, the 3D data mayrefer to the spatial data reflecting the structure of an object.Figuratively speaking, the 3D data can be regarded as the skeleton of anobject such as the framework of a building, whereas, the 2D image datacan depict the two-dimensional or planar appearance of an object.Figuratively speaking, the 2D image data can be viewed at the outer skinof an object such as, the paint, appearance, and color of the exteriorof the building. The 3D fused data is the integration of the spatialdata reflecting the physical structure with the planar data reflectingthe appearance. For example, the 3D fused data can be regarded as theaddition of a corresponding outer skin onto the framework of an object.One such example can be adding paint colors to a framework of a freshlycapped building to form a complete three-dimensional appearance.

Data fusion techniques can be used to combine the 3D data and the 2Dimage data of the street view. Typically, in a unified geographiccoordinate system, certain algorithms are used to combine the 3D dataand the 2D image data of a same target to generate the 3D fused datawhich includes not only the contour profile, but also the planarpicture.

Based on the required information abstraction degree, any data fusionmeans, or a combination of the multiple data fusion means, can be usedto fuse the 3D data and 2D image data of the street view. The datafusion means can include at least one of pixel-based fusion,feature-based fusion, and decision-based fusion.

The data fusion module 102 may use certain data fusion algorithms tofurther fuse the converted 3D data and 2D image data of the street viewto generate the 3D fused data for the street view.

When update the navigation map in real time according to the 3D fuseddata, a live picture reflecting the street view can be seen on thenavigation screen consistent with the view seen by the naked eyes.

The update module 103 may update the navigation map in real timeaccording to the 3D fused data.

Optionally, this apparatus may further include a division module. Thedivision module may divide the navigation map into multiple positiontiles, each covering a region in the navigation map with a predeterminedlength and width.

As shown in FIG. 3, the navigation map may be divided into 16 positiontiles (G1*1, G1*2, . . . , and G4*4). Each position tile may cover aregion with fixed length and width such as, 100 meters multiply 100meters. The whole navigation map can be tiled by these position tiles.

Referring now to FIG. 9, in some examples of the disclosure, the updatemodule 103 may include a determination unit 1031, a first judgment unit1032, and an update execution unit 1033.

The determination unit 1031 may determine the position tilecorresponding to the street view, and the specific position of thestreet view in the position tile based on the GPS position informationof this collection device, and the distance and angle of the collectedstreet view with respect to this collection device.

The determined specific position of the street view in the positiontile, can be a relative position with respect to the collection device,and can also be an absolute position expressed with latitude andlongitude.

The first judgment unit 1032 may determine whether the specific positionof the position tile has already contained the collected point 1.

The update execution unit 1033 may directly update, when thedetermination of the first judgment unit 1032 is negative, the map dataof the specific position of the position tile in real time according tothe 3D fused data representing the collected point 1. When thedetermination of the first judgment unit 1032 is positive, the updateexecution unit will maintain the current navigation map.

The first judgment unit 1032 can be optional. In addition, if it isdetermined that the format of the 3D fused data is not consistent withthe map data format of the navigation map, then the format may need tobe converted before the update execution unit 1033 perform thecorresponding update operations. In this case the update module 103 mayfurther include a second judgment module.

When the determination of the first judgment unit 1032 is negative, thesecond judgment module may determine whether the format of the 3D fuseddata representing the street view is the same as that of the map data ofthe navigation map.

When the determination of the second judgment unit is negative, theupdate execution unit 1033 may convert the format of the 3D fused datainto that of the map data of the navigation map, and the converted dataof the street view will be updated in real time onto the determinedspecific position on the navigation map, that is, updating the map dataof the specific position of the position tile in real time according tothe converted 3D fused data. When the determination of the secondjudgment unit is positive, the update execution unit 1033 may directlyupdate the 3D fused data representing the street view onto thedetermined specific position on the navigation map.

Other methods can also be used to update the navigation map in realtime. For example, while capturing data, the navigation map can benotified to lock the region of the navigation map that is currentlydisplayed on the screen. The 3D fused data, which is generated bycombining the collected data, can be directly updated to the lockedregion on the screen, after which new data will be captured and fusedand synchronously updated. In another example, while capturing data, thenavigation map may be notified to lock the region of the navigation mapthat is currently displayed on the screen. A correspondence between the3D fused data and the locked region can be established and it isrecorded that map updates are available for this locked region, so thatnext time the vehicle passes the same region and parses that map updatesare available, the 3D fused data corresponding to this locked regionwill be directly updated to the navigation map.

Furthermore, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that, thepresent disclosure also provides an apparatus for updating a navigationmap, the apparatus comprising a non-transitory program storage mediumand a processor. The non-transitory program storage medium stores aprogram executed by the processor to perform the methods as describedabove. Furthermore, it is apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious units or modules 102, 103, 1011, 1012, 1031, 1032 and 1033, asshown in FIGS. 7-9, can be software modules or software units. Inanother aspect, it is well-known that various software modules orsoftware units can be inherently stored in the non-transitory programstorage medium and executed by the processor.

According to the disclosure, the 3D data and 2D image data of the roador street view can be collected in real time, and fused into 3D fuseddata, which is then can be used to update the navigation map in realtime. Since the 3D fused data, which is synchronously generated by thecombination of currently collected data, the navigation map can beupdated in real time. Thus, the currently captured street view can be intime displayed on the route that the vehicle is traveling on, that is,the updated navigation map can cover the real-time road conditions.

The above description is only the embodiments of the present disclosure,and is not limiting the scope of the disclosure. Any equivalentstructures or flow modifications made without departing from thespecification or accompanying drawings of the disclosure, or any director indirect application of the disclosure in any other related fieldsshall all be covered within the protection of the disclosure.

1. A method for updating a navigation map, comprising: fusing capturedthree-dimensional (3D) data and two-dimensional data (2D) image data ofa street view to generate 3D fused data representing the street view;and updating the navigation map in real time according to the 3D fuseddata.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the step offusing captured three-dimensional (3D) data and two-dimensional data(2D) image data of a view of a street to generate 3D fused datarepresenting the street view: capturing, by at least one collectiondevice, the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street view in realtime.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one collectiondevice is mounted on a vehicle.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the atleast one collection device is arranged on the street.
 5. The method ofclaim 2, wherein when a single collection device is used to capture the3D data and the 2D image data of the street view, the step of capturingthe 3D data and the 2D image data of the street view in real timecomprises: capturing, by the collection device, in real time, the 3Ddata and the 2D image data of the street view at a same distance andangle, wherein the distance refers to the distance of the street viewwith respect to the collection device, and the angle refers to the angleof the street view with respect to the collection device.
 6. The methodof claim 2, wherein when different collection devices are used tocapture the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street viewrespectively, the step of capturing the 3D data and the 2D image data ofthe street view in real time comprises: capturing, by the differentcollection devices, the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street viewin real time, respectively; and converting the 3D data and the 2D imagedata that are captured by the different collection devices to have asame distance and angle, wherein the distance refers to the distance ofthe street view with respect to one of the different collection devices,and the angle refers to the angle of the street view with respect to thesame one of the different collection device.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the step of fusing captured 3D data and 2D image data of thestreet view to generate 3D fused data representing the street viewcomprises: using data fusion algorithms to fuse the converted 3D dataand 2D image data of the street view to generate the 3D fused datarepresenting the street view.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: before the step of updating the navigation map in real timeaccording to the 3D fused data; dividing the navigation map into aplurality of position tiles, each position tile covering a region in thenavigation map with a predetermined length and width.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the step of updating the navigation map in real timeaccording to the 3D fused data comprises: determining the position tileof the navigation map corresponding to the street view and a specificposition of the street view in the position tile, based on globalpositioning system (GPS) position information of a collection device,and the distance and angle of the street view with respect to thecollection device; determining whether the specific position of theposition tile has already contained the street view; if not, updatingthe map data of the specific position of the position tile in real timeaccording to the 3D fused data representing the street view; and if yes,maintaining the current navigation map.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising: when the result of the determination is negative,further determining whether a format of the 3D fused data representingthe street view is the same as that of the map data of the navigationmap; when the formats are different, converting the format of the 3Dfused data into that of the map data of the navigation map, and updatingthe map data of the specific position of the position tile in real timeaccording to the converted 3D fused data; and when the formats are same,directly updating the map data of the specific position of the positiontile in real time according to the converted 3D fused data.
 11. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the at least one connection device furthercomprises an 3D scanning device and an image capture device ,and the 3Dfused data is captured by the 3D scanning device, and the 2D image datais captured by the image capture device.
 12. An apparatus for updating anavigation map, comprising: a data fusion module, configured to fusecaptured three-dimensional (3D) data and two-dimensional (2D) image dataof a street view to generate 3D fused data representing the street view;and an update module, configured to update the navigation map in realtime according to the 3D fused data generated by the data fusion module.13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: at least onecollection device, configured to capture the 3D data and the 2D imagedata of the street view in real time before they are fused by the datafusion module.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least onecollection device is mounted on a vehicle or arranged on the street. 15.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein when a single collection device isused to capture the 3D data and the 2D image data of the street view inreal time, the collection device is configured to respectively capturethe 3D data and the 2D image data of the street view at a same distanceand angle, wherein the distance refers to the distance of the streetview with respect to this collection device, and the angle refers to theangle of the street view with respect to this collection device.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein when different collection devices areused to respectively capture the 3D data and the 2D image data of thestreet view, at least one of these collection devices comprises: acollecting unit configured to capture the 3D data and the 2D image dataof the street view; and a conversion unit configured to convert the 3Ddata and the 2D image data that are captured by the different collectiondevices to have a same distance and angle, wherein the distance refersto the distance of the street view with respect to one of thesecollection devices, and the angle refers to the angle of the street viewwith respect to the same one of these collection device.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 16, wherein the data fusion module is configured touse data fusion algorithms to fuse the converted 3D data and 2D imagedata of the street view to generate the 3D fused data representing thestreet view.
 18. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: adivision module configured to divide the navigation map into a pluralityof position tiles, each position tile covering a region in thenavigation map with a predetermined length and width.
 19. The apparatusof claim 18, wherein the update module comprises: a determination unitconfigured to determine the position tile of the navigation mapcorresponding to the r street view and a specific position of the streetview in the position tile, based on global positioning system (GPS)position information of a collection device, and the distance and angleof the r street view with respect to the collection device; a firstjudgment unit configured to determine whether the specific position ofthe position tile has already contained the street view; and an updateexecution unit configured to, when the result of the determination isnegative, update the map data of the specific position of the positiontile in real time according to the 3D fused data representing the streetview, and when the result of the determination of the first judgmentunit is positive, maintaining the current navigation map.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 19, wherein the update module further comprises: asecond judgment unit configured to, when the result of the determinationis negative, determine whether a format of the 3D fused datarepresenting the road or street view is the same as that of the map dataof the navigation map; wherein the update execution unit is furtherconfigured to, when the formats are different, convert the format of the3D fused data to that of the map data of the navigation map, and updatethe map data of the specific position of the position tile in real timeaccording to the converted 3D fused data, and when the formats are same,directly update the map data of the specific position of the positiontile in real time according to the converted 3D fused data.